First, thank you so much for all of the emails and support regarding my last column. Love is easy to write about, miscarriage and loss … not so easy. I was overwhelmed by the many emails I received. Thank you for reading.

As I write today, the temperature outside is 92 degrees. It’s the kind of day where, when I was a kid, my folks would declare it was too hot to cook and we’d go to the local ice cream shop and have great-big sundaes for dinner. This only happened a few times each summer but man-oh-man it felt like a dream come true.

Summer has this Doris Day — Que Sera, Sera — vibe. It’s warm and there’s a general feeling of freedom and relaxation in the air. As Day’s song says, whatever will be, will be.

Maybe you’re more of a Will Smith fan and feel it’s, “time to sit back and unwind.” Either way, slather on that sunblock, fire up the grill and be sure your social media posts are peppered with sassy hashtags like #merica, #summervibes — or the ever-popular #beachhairdontcare.

If all else fails, just post the words, “summertime. bacon.” You’ll probably break the internet.

Summertime brings an abundance of sunshine, bounty in the garden, tall glasses of ice cold water all drippy with condensation, walking bare foot, ocean soaked hair, coconut scented everything and most importantly … ice cream!

Summer is like a three-month-long exhale. Relax, laugh, regroup … and eat plenty of ice cream.

Charred Sweet Corn Ice Cream

I developed this recipe for one of the first fall harvest dinners I chef’ed at Wright Locke Farm. It was early in the season and there was still some local corn. The days were warm and the nights were cool. I have always loved my mother’s homemade succotash — cream and corn together — heavenly! I’m proud of this ice cream; it’s a really special farm-inspired dessert.

3 Ears of Fresh Corn

2 C Heavy Cream

1 C Whole Milk

3/4 C Sugar

1 T Maple Syrup

1/2 tsp salt

Soak corn in water for 6 hours or overnight. Drain the water. Remove most of the husk but leave one thin layer of leaves. Cook on a hot grill until the corn is charred a bit in many places. Let cool and then cut corn from the cobs. Using a knife, scrape the cobs — save all the milky liquid and small bits of corn goodness. Cut the cobs in half and save.

Over medium heat: warm the milk, cream and sugar just until the sugar is dissolved. Next, add the corn kernels and the liquid and goodness from your scraping efforts. Also add the cobs (that you cut in half), maple syrup, and salt. Leave on heat for 4 minutes. Keep the heat level moderate; do not boil. Pour this mixture, including the cobs, into a large food storage container and allow to rest in the fridge overnight. Remove cobs and process in ice cream machine. This yields 1 quart of ice cream.

I like to serve this ice cream over grilled pound cake for guests. A boozy salted caramel fudge sauce is fantastic here. I rail against the bacon trend … but it would be well paired here. Or keep it simple and garnish with a lacy parmesan crisp.

— Chef Mel Carden is a private chef in Winchester — cooking in clients’ homes for special occasions. She teaches cooking classes for junior chefs and partners closely with Wright Locke Farm. She embraces an “aspiring homesteader” lifestyle and her writing reminds us there’s wisdom and humor among the seeds, stalks and sauce pots. FB: for goodness sake foods, Instagram: @fgsfoods, web: eatforgoodnesssake.com, email: cookingcarden@gmail.com.